Daniel Moore warns Hebburn Town ahead of 'dangerous' Gladiators battle

Hebburn Town manager Daniel Moore has warned his players of the threat they will face when they take on Matlock Town on Saturday.

The Gladiators will arrive at Hebburn Sports Ground sat at the bottom of the Northern Premier League Premier Division table after winning just one of their opening 12 games of the season.  That means Hebburn will be strong favourites to claim a win that could take them into second place in the table if Worksop Town fall to a defeat in their visit to Ashton United. For Moore and his players, moving on from last weekend’s FA Trophy exit at the hands of FC United of Manchester remains the key objective and although that process kicked off with Tuesday’s Durham Challenge Cup win against Newton Aycliffe, the Hornets boss still wants more from his squad as they continue to exceed expectations this season.

He told The Gazette: “You can lose games no matter how you play, it’s all about how you react to it and we reacted well on Tuesday night.  That’s all I can ask of them because we won’t win every game.  Financially, status-wise, we are punching above our weight and we are just enjoying the challenge of trying to get points on the board to make sure we stay in this division.  Matlock will be dangerous, they’ve got some good players but we have take full advantage of being at home and the fact they might be taking time to gel after a few changes.  I think a lot of people felt they would be in the top half and I can’t imagine they’ll be down at the wrong end of the table for long because they will improve.”

Moore confirmed Arron Thompson is unavailable, Liam Murray is out with injury and Paul Van Zandvliet will serve the final game of the three-match ban he received for a red card in last month’s home defeat against Whitby Town.  Experienced duo Liam Noble and Amar Purewal will both be assessed before the game before a final decision is taken over their involvement.